ExxonMobil has discovered oil in its EG-06 block offshore Equatorial Guinea.
This was revealed on Monday by the country’s energy ministry which said that the well had been drilled in October 2017, and that ExxonMobil was assessing potential commerciality.
Avestruz-1 is located approximately 160 kilometers offshore Malabo in an exploration area adjacent to ExxonMobil’s Zafiro field, a prolific legacy oilfield in Equatorial Guinea’s northern maritime area.
ExxonMobil signed its production sharing contract for Block EG-06 in 2015, followed by its entry into nearby Block EG-11 in 2017.
“Equatorial Guinea’s partnership with ExxonMobil continues to yield new oil discoveries, testifying to the huge potential in this country and our enabling environment for oil and gas exploration,” said Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima. “We hope that commerciality will be established at Avestruz-1 and look forward to seeing more developments in the areas surrounding Block B.”
The government of Equatorial Guinea has partnered with ExxonMobil in Block EG-06 through a 20-percent stake held by national oil company GEPetrol. An ExxonMobil local subsidiary is the operator with 80 percent. At the Zafiro field in Block B, ExxonMobil’s affiliate has a 71.25 percent interest, GEPetrol has 23.75 percent and the state has 5 percent. Since 1996 Zafiro has produced over 1 billion barrels of oil.